Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake - S&SB Challenge

Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake, this month Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge goes to this spongy loaf cake... its such a delicious, spongy and moist loaf cake and both chocolate and orange combination together makes this loaf cake awesome and this moisty orange loaf cake tastes marvellous...I love any sort of citrus flavour sponge cake,but none at home love these sort of citrus flavour cake, but this cake was completely different and everyone at home loved this spongy and moist cake..while this sponge cake has orange zest running through the cake which is soaked after baking in a orange syrup prepared with fresh orange juice and sugar, which makes a moist crumb and finally a chocolate topping to finish this delicious cake..I never baked this sort of moist cake and this cake tastes really fantastic which is definitely a keeper for me and am gonna try this cake with different flavour and different fruits..Coming to this orange flavour moist loaf cake, this yummy orange loaf cake goes to Rosie & Maria's Sweet and Simple Bakes Challenge....

For the Cake:
175g (6 oz) softened butter
175g (6 oz) caster (super fine) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour, sifted
2 tbsp milk

For the orange syrup:
Juice of 1 orange
100g (4 oz) granulated sugar

For the topping:
50g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate – your choice
Sprinkles of choice (optional)

You will need a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin – greased with a little butter and lined with greaseproof paper or non-stick baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

For the cake:
In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy in appearance. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well until fully incorporated. Add the orange zest, flour and milk and fold in gently with a spatula or large metal spoon. Turn into the prepared tin, smooth the top of the mixture and bake in the oven on middle shelf 35 -45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. When cool make little holes in the cake with a skewer, (this is important for pouring the syrup onto the cake to ensure the syrup soaks in fully.)

For the Orange syrup:
Put the orange juice and granulated sugar into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Pour over the top of the cake. When all the juice has soaked in, carefully remove the cake from the tin.

For the chocolate topping:
Melt the chocolate by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted, pour over the top of the cake. Either smooth the top over with a spatula or make a little pattern with the prongs of a fork. Add sprinkles if desired, leave chocolate to set before cutting into the cake.

Enjoy!!